


Much Later

by Hermaline75



Category: Thor (Movies)
Genre: Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Angst, Bittersweet, Fluff, M/M, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Sibling Incest, Smut, Technically post-IW Part 2 actually, Thor-centric, What-If
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-30
Updated: 2018-04-30
Packaged: 2019-04-29 17:31:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14477703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hermaline75/pseuds/Hermaline75
Summary: It's been a long, long time.(A post-Infinity War Part One sister-fic to my post-RagnarokLater,but it's not necessary to read both.)





	Much Later

**Author's Note:**

> I chose not to use Archive warnings for spoiler reasons but we're dealing with Major Character Death here (kind of) so if this is not your jam then this is your chance to hit back and carry on with your day.
> 
> If you want to come wallow in angst and fluff with me, please read on!

It comes at night. Not on the battlefield, but in his sleep. And years and years after he expected it, his hair gone white and his skin wrinkled. An age few got the privilege to see.

No violent death for Thor Odinson. Peace. Quiet. The kind of death people thought of as a good way to pass, if they had to choose one.

He's mourned, of course. Not that he's aware of it.

He's much too busy.

\---

It was difficult not to be angry at the decision when it was made, but he knew why Steve did it.

And of course it was Steve. Thor had never met a man more moral and righteous than him. He made the difficult choice about what to do.

They would undo Thanos's final act, the dissolution of life, but no more than that. Those who fell in the battle... Well, they had fallen. For if they began bringing back the dead so easily, where would they stop? Would they undo all wars? All deaths? It wasn't as simple as that. Who got to say what was and wasn't to be allowed to stand in history? It was too much responsibility.

There were arguments, of course. Quill fought for Gamora to the point of threatening violence from the moment he was restored. Why did Steve get to have Bucky returned but leave Vision, Gamora, Heimdall...?

Loki?

Thor listened to the arguments and though he agreed with Steve in principle, enough to side with him, deep inside his heart rebelled. Ached. Bled.

He had killed Thanos for Loki. Oh, other reasons too and of course the others had helped. Steve's shield and Anthony's blasters, Bruce's fists, Okoye running him through with her spear while their new captain friend rained down a barrage on his so-called children, Nebula stabbing him again and again in a frenzied rage... But it had been Thor who struck the killing blow.

He'd taken Thanos's advice. No clean death for him but a sudden blow from Stormbreaker, splitting his head in two uneven pieces, another cut, another. Not glorious. Not dignified. Just done.

He washed the blood off his hands afterwards and felt nothing. What was there left to feel? He had his revenge, he supposed. But revenge was nothing but ash.

It wouldn't bring Loki back. Nothing would.

Not that he fully believed Loki was dead, of course. He would spend the rest of his life half-chasing shadows. Seeing his brother in dreams. Turning at a flash of black hair, a certain shade of green. Never far from his mind.

But there was work to do. Not long after they had begun rebuilding after the final battle, the vanished people returned, haunted by half-remembered glimpses of the world beyond this one. And then, when things were almost reaching a routine that might be called normal, the first group of Asgardian survivors arrived.

Thor had feared the worst and didn't try to hide his tears of relief when he was told of the signals reaching Earth and asking for him.

The pleasure yacht had liveboats. Not a lot, but some. Even Sakaar had rudimentary safety legislation of sorts. The first thing Thor had done when the attack on the Ark started was evacuate as many people as he could, placing Valkyrie in charge of them. He'd done his best to give them time to run.

And they had made it. Despite it all, his people had made it. Some of them. Lost and far from home but alive. And they _thanked_ him for saving them. For protecting them as best he could, for all he felt he could have done so much better.

"We turned back briefly after the warship left," Valkyrie told him. "Else we'd have arrived sooner. But, well... We wanted to lay the fallen to rest properly."

"Did you find Loki?"

Shaking head. Perhaps his body had been destroyed in the explosion. Or perhaps his clever brother had slipped through Death's fingers once again.

It was a hope that would follow Thor for the rest of his life. But he had responsibilities to deal with. Earth was dealing with the aftermath of yet another invasion. They were understandably suspicious of these newcomers. But there was space for them, not to mention their knowledge of different technologies was very interesting and valuable to the humans.

Thor took advice from T'Challa as they set up New Asgard in a place far from other busy settlements. Uncrowded. He didn't want to tread on any toes, but his new friend had endless wisdom to offer, from dealing with the international councils of Earth to how to politely but firmly refuse unwanted interference.

Time went by, somehow. Thor did his best not to mark the years in deaths, but it was difficult not to after a while. His friends, even the youngest among them, grew old around him. And yet he remained.

He saw empires rise and fall, knew his old friends' great-great-great and so on grandchildren, witnessed and fought in yet more wars and did the best he could to be a positive influence, in the names and in memory of all he had lost. Especially his brother.

In the end, King Thor, first of New Asgard, died in his sleep aged 5,742.

Or at least it was the end from some perspectives.

\---

Thor stirred. The sun was in his eyes, for all they were closed. Had he forgotten the drapes again? He seemed to be doing that more often these days. Unwilling to shut out nature.

...Eyes?

"What time do you call this, brother? Sleeping late?"

Thor's eyes flashed open instantly. Loki? Finally? Had he finally stopped hiding and come back to him?

He rolled over to find his brother's face smiling at him, lying on his stomach, his hair shorter than the last time he'd seen him, like it had been so long ago...

"Is this a dream?"

"No."

"That's exactly what someone who was a dream would say."

Loki laughed, hiding his face in the pillow for a moment. Such beautiful pillows. Fine sheets, almost diaphanous in the sunlight, revealing the lines of Loki's body... A gorgeous room in all ways. Certainly not where he'd gone to sleep. Where was this if not a dream?

"You're so young," Thor said, very seriously. "Even you couldn't hide from time so completely. So this must be a dream. Otherwise it doesn't make sense."

Loki looked at him again. Serious. Those young eyes seemed to have seen so much. His face was youthful but his being, his essence... That was older.

"I've been like this for a long time now. Waiting for you. Watching over you. And I must say, you're looking better than you have in a long time. This place... You become as you were when you were happiest."

He reached up, towards Thor's right eye. The one he hadn't had in years.

Loki's fingertips were so soft, running over his eyelid, down his face, over his lips.

"I've been waiting for you," he repeated softly. "But you had things you had to do. And these things must not be rushed."

Thor was growing suspicious now. A beautiful room, glorious sunshine, restored to their youth but still with all their wisdom...

"Am I in Valhalla?" he whispered.

He left his eyes closed and felt Loki move closer, bringing their bare skin together, and kissing him softly.

That was answer enough.

"But I didn't die in battle."

"Of course you did. You were always fighting to make things better. Fighting to keep everyone safe. To prevent conflict as much as possible. It still counts. Things are seldom so literal as they are portrayed. You know that."

He did, he supposed, yes.

"I didn't know if you... I wasn't sure."

Loki cuddled in to him, so familiar and comforting.

"I know. I saw you looking for me. But as I said, you mustn't rush these things. Had to wait for your time. And besides, you were happy."

Thor finally opened his eyes, frowning a little.

"I have missed you terribly."

"Mm. I don't doubt that. But you learned to live with your grief. And to find joy wherever it presented itself."

Eventually, things would start making sense, Thor supposed. But for now, he was held safe and warm, his brother in his arms.

Something he had missed for so long. Wanted. Dreamed of.

"I've been waiting for something else too," Loki said.

"Mm? What?"

"What do you think?"

Thor found himself chuckling with a lack of care that he hadn't known for a while. That peaceful feeling just after waking on a day with no tasks.

He pulled Loki up his body to kiss him properly. Long and languorous, running his hands over his back, feeling the warmth of his flesh against his own.

Were these tears in his eyes? But he was happy. Bewildered, but happy.

He knew he was becoming more needy suddenly, clutching at Loki's flesh in case this was just a dream, a very vivid one, in case he woke...

"Shh," Loki whispered. "It's alright. It's alright, Thor."

"Loki..."

"I know. I'm here."

An echo of another conversation, millennia ago. One that lead to a reunion and a rekindling that Thor had expected to have centuries if not longer to explore.

But then... Well, fate had not been so kind to them.

And now here he was, tasting the salt of his tears against his brother's skin, smooth and unscarred, unmarked by so many cruel years.

He needed to be closer.

Loki gasped eagerly as he let his hand drift lower, finding him ready and slick.

"No wasting time in Valhalla unless you want to," he murmured against Thor's lips, angling his hips in just the right way.

He'd pushed himself upwards, looking so beautiful, but Thor couldn't stand even that separation. It was still a little strange to see him like this after so long.

Loki moaned openly as Thor sat up and pulled him impossibly closer, his legs wrapped tightly around him.

It was slow and rolling, a gentle breeze keeping them cool amongst the pooled sheets, Thor keeping his lips pressed to Loki's neck for soft kisses and to inhale the smell of him, the one that had never left his memory.

They might have stayed like that for hours, holding on, chests rising and falling in tandem.

As had often been the case in their youth, Loki chased his pleasure first, bucking his hips, a beautiful, high sound slipping from his throat. No pretence. No illusions here.

Thor smiled at him as he reached between their bodies, wrapping a hand around his cock properly. He stroked gently at first, then firmly, feeling every clench and ripple of his body.

A cry and a moan. Thor gave himself over to feeling, spilling just as Loki did against his stomach. Then he had Loki fully in his arms again, trembling with sensitivity, laying kisses over every piece of skin he could reach.

And still he didn't wake. No dream. Just warmth and fragrant air.

"I told you, didn't I?" Loki said.

"Hmm?"

A raised hand, casting a shadow over Thor's chest.

"The sun. It shines on us."

Thor held him tight. Unwilling to let go.

"Should I have come sooner?"

An annoyed grunt.

"No. And don't say things like that. You can't rush these things. That's not how it works. You have to wait for your time."

He looked up, eyes so green and wise.

"Besides," he said. "Waiting made the meeting sweeter. But we should get up soon. Mother and Father will want to see you. And a few others, I expect."

His old friends. Such dear people. But not just yet...

"Don't worry," Loki said. "They've had time to come to terms with... this. My being here."

Thor half sat up in surprise.

"What? But you died defending our people. Valiantly. You deserve to be here."

"Thank you. But you see, usually everyone gets their own personal part of Valhalla, unless they have people they cannot bear to be without. Then they get to share. Mother and Father, Volstagg and Hilde, Brunnhilde and her Shield Sisters... So the fact that I am here, sharing this place with you, can only have one explanation."

"Our love, you mean?"

A blush, but quite a happy one.

"If you want to call it that. Of course, I found out later that the bond is not necessarily romantic and that I could have avoided the awkwardness if I'd just thought to lie, but was rather too late by then..."

Thor leant forward to kiss him softly.

"They've waited this long," he said. "They can manage another few hours, I'm sure."

They had eternity, after all.


End file.
